Bone Treats for Your Dog - Healthy or Unhealthy?

Our dogs love bone treats. That is a well-established fact. Some large dogs are better on chewing these bones than do smaller ones. Bones do have uses for the health and well-being of our dogs. But are they all safe and healthy for our dogs? Some reports have shown that some bones could also impose some possible health risks that may endanger our dogs.

Bones can both be nourishing and useful especially when our puppies are on their teething stages. This is one of the times where a dog should really have a bone. It could also clean our dog's teeth and prevent the formation of plaque and tartar. It exercises their gums to strengthen it while giving them some sort of recreational activity to occupy themselves with during idle hours.

The best kind of bones that experts recommend for dogs are those that contain a lot of cartilage. Some of these are rib bones that are still soft, knuckle bones of pigs or beef, and the shoulders and spines of veal. These kinds of bones can be chewed and swallowed without the least possible danger in the health of your dogs. Do not use bones that can break into long, sharp pieces as this may be dangerous for your dogs. Such kinds of bones include those that are from pork, chicken, fowl such as ducks, and rabbit bones.

Pork chop and steak bones are another story, however, and also lamb and rabbit bones. These bones splinter and can cause compaction in the intestines of your dog, especially when taken in large amounts without the aid of other food substances in the stomach. More careful dogs may not run this risk since they can remove the fat and meat not including the bone, but the more voracious ones will be at risk. These are careless in chewing and may swallow large portions of the bone without them knowing it.

So, bones can be healthy or unhealthy for our dogs, but that all depends upon the kind of bone that is being used. It can be an important tool for the hygiene and health of our dogs as they can help prevent the build-up of plaque on their teeth and could also help during their puppy years when they are on their teething period. But, in some instances it could also pose some danger to them. So one must be careful on what kind of bone they give to their pet dogs. If possible, the synthetic variety could be used to remove the health risks that come from splintering bones.

Steve Weber offers more info on his web site, Cactus Canyon, for helping canine owners who are dealing with the effects of dog arthritis. Steve's site offers natural and safe glucosmaine products, such as Flexicose for pets, for treating the joint disease.